Coke car with fume-collecting hood

ABSTRACT

A TUBULAR COKE GUIDE IS DISPOSED BETWEEN THE FRONT OF A BATTERY OF COKE OVENS AND A CAR THAT RECEIVES COKE DISCHARGED FROM THE OVENS THROUGH THE GUIDE. ABOVE THE CAR THERE IS A FUME-COLLECTING HOOD, THE SIDE OF WHICH ADJACENT THE COKE GUIDE IS FORMED FROM A PLURALITY OF PLATES PIVOTALLY SUSPENDED FROM THEIR UPPER ENDS ON A HORIZONTAL AXIS IN EDGE-TO-EDGE RELATION. AS THE CAR IS MOVED ALONG THE BATTERY OF OVENS, EACH PLATE IN SUCCESSION, AS IT COMES OPPOSITE THE OUTLET OF THE COKE GUIDE, IS SWUNG INWARDLY TO PERMIT COKE TO BE DISCHARGED FROM THE GUIDE INTO THE CAR. THE FUME THAT IS PRODUCED IN THE HOOD BY THE COKE IS DRAWN OUT BY AN EXHAUST SYSTEM AND RENDERED NON-POLLUTING BEFORE IT IS DELIVERED TO THE ATMOSPHERE.   D R A W I N G

Feb. 6, 1973 E. E. FRIES a'rm. 3,715,282

COKE CAR WITH FUME-COLLECTING HOOD Filed March 22, 1971 I 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS.

ER/CH E. PR/ES KARL ERRGA/VG F R IE DR/CH-W/LHE LM DREBES Feb. 6, 1973 E. E. PRIES L 3,715,232

com-3 CAR WITH FUME-COLLECTING HOOD Filed March 22, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS.

ER/CH E: PR/ES KARL ERRGANG FRIEDRICH-WILHELM DREBES fi/wwz, M?

ATTORNEYS US. Cl. 202-263 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tubular coke guide is disposed between the front of a battery of coke ovens and a car that receives coke discharged from the ovens through the guide. Above the car there is a fume-collecting hood, the side of which adjacent the coke guide is formed from a plurality of plates p1votally suspended from their upper ends on a horizontal axis in edge-to-edge relation. As the car is moved along the battery of ovens, each plate in succession, as it comes opposite the outlet of the coke guide, is swung inwardly to permit coke to be discharged from the guide into the car. The fume that is produced in the hood by the coke is drawn out by an exhaust system and rendered non-polluting before it is delivered to the atmosphere.

A number of proposals have been made for protecting the surroundings of coking installations from smoke and dust that are produced when coke is pushed out of horizontal ovens. The very hot coke begins to burn actively upon contact with the air, and the flames that rise high carry the finest coke particles along with them. In attempts to prevent air pollution, exhaust hood have been placed over parts of the quenching cars, and the guides between the ovens and the cars have been enclosed.

It is an object of this invention to avoid such dust and smoke problems while retaining the proved design for coke quenching cars. According to this design, the cars are driven along the coke oven battery during emptying of an oven so that loading of a car takes place in such a way as to distribute the coke in a relatively flat layer throughout the length of the car. Other objects are to provide an exhaust hood that travels with a quenching car, and to design the car so that as uniform quenching of the coke as possible can be achieved.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view, partly broken away, showing a quenching car being loaded with coke;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line II-II of FIG. 1, but showing the unloading ramp also;

FIG. 3 is a view of the oven side of the car;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section, similar to FIG. 2, of a modification; and

FIG. 5 is a cross section of a further embodiment of the invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, a carriage track 1 extends aloing a charging floor 2 in front of a row or battery of coke ovens 3 a short distance below their discharge doors. Running on this track is a carriage 4 that supports a coke chute or guide 5, through which coke can be pushed from an oven to a coke quenching car 6 that is moved along a track 7 in front of, but below, track 1 by any suitable means. The coke-receiving floor 8 of the quenching car 6 slopes downwardly from beneath the outlet of the coke guide, and the outer side wall of the car at the lower end of the floor is provided with a discharge opening normally closed by a door 9 which can be opened by one or more fluid pressure cylinders 10.

United States Patent 0 3,715,282 Patented Feb. 6, 1973 To prevent smoke, noxious gases and fine particles of coke, herein frequently referred to as fume, from rising into the atmosphere between the ovens and the car, the coke guide 5 is tubular. That is, it has a top wall as well as bottom and side walls. The guide is rectangular in cross section and has an inlet large enough to fit around the discharge opening of a coke oven after its door has been removed. To enable the coke guide to be moved by the carriage laterally from oven to oven without interference by the vertical oven braces 12, the guide is formed from two telescoping parts that can be moved toward each other or extended. One part forms a gas-tight closure with the door frame of the oven, while the other part is designed to form a substantially gas-tight closure with the side of a hood 13 carried by the car and which forms the main feature of this invention.

When coke is pushed from an oven through the guide 5 into the quenching car 6 below the outer end of the guide, smoke and dust and noxious gases are formed. To prevent this fume from rising into the atmosphere, the hood 13 is provided, which covers the car. The hood is coextensive with the coke-receiving body of the car and has end walls and side walls and a roof 14. It is a feature of this invention that the inner side wall of the hood, which is the side nearest the coke ovens, is not a rigid wall but is formed from a series of vertical plates 15 pivotally suspended from their upper ends on a horizontal axis, such as by being pivotally mounted on a shaft 16 extending lengthwise of the car. The vertical side edges of the plates normally are in smoke-tight engagement with one another to seal that side of the hood. The pivotal suspension of the plates permits them to be swung inwardly into the hood until their lower ends engage, or nearly engage its outer side wall.

After the door of one of the coke ovens has been removed, the carriage 4 is moved along its track 1 into a position in front of the oven and the coke guide 5 is extended so that its inner or inlet end will be sealed around the discharge opening of the oven. The outer section of the guide is moved outwardly far enough to substantially engage the plates 15 forming the inner side wall of hood 13. When the quenching car and its hood move up along side of the coke guide, the plate 15 that is opposite the outer end of the guide is swung away from the guide to ward the outer side wall of the hood as shown in FIG. 2, so that an opening in the inner side wall of the hood is provided to permit coke from the guide to enter the hood and fall down into the car. As the car moves slowly ahead, each successive plate in turn is opened, whereby the side opening into the hood moves progressively along the car from one end to the other.

The preferred way of swinging the plates into the hood is to mount a stationary cam 18 at the top of the tubular coke guide. This cam projects outwardly from the coke guide far enough to extend a short distance over the car and into the hood. It is convex in horizontal section as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1, and projects from the opposite sides of the guide. The front end wall of the hood is provided with a small opening 19 that allows the cam to pass through it as the car approaches the cam. As soon as the cam starts to enter the hood the cam is engaged by the edge of the first vertical plate 15, which is thereby caused to swing inwardly as it slides across the cam. When the plate is directly opposite the outlet of the coke guide the plate is swung its maximum distance away from the guide. As the coke falls into the car, the car moves slowly ahead so that each plate in succession slides across the cam and is swung inwardly by it and then swings back by gravity to vertical position. FIG. 1 shows three plates engaging the cam at different points on it, the center one being swung inwardly farther than the two at its opposite sides. The speed of the car is gauged to bring the last plate 3 into engagement with the cam as the last of the coke from the oven is being pushed into the hood. As the car continues to move forward, the cam leaves the hood through a small opening in its rear end wall and the last plate swings back to its closed position so that the inner side wall of the hood is completely closed again.

Throughout the loading of the quenching car the fume is drawn out of the hood through an opening 22 (FIG. 2) in its front end wall that is connected by a large pipe 23 to an exhaust fan 24 that forces the fume through suitable cleaning apparatus 25 that is provided with a flue 26. The gases that are delivered to the atmosphere from the flue are clean enough to avoid polluting the air.

After the quenching car has been filled with coke, the car and its closed hood continue to move forward and into a position under the quenching tower (not shown). In this location the roof of the hood is opened. For this purpose the root can be hinged along one edge and swung upwardly to upright position by one or more fluid pressure cylinders 28 operatively connected with arms 29 projecting from the hinged edge of the roof. Or, if desired, the roof can be designed in other ways. For example, it can be formed of shutters that can be rolled at the side. With the roof open, the coke is fully exposed to the water that is sprayed over it from the quenching tower sprays. The car then is moved to an unloading station where the coke is discharged onto a ramp 30' after the car door 9 is opened. The coke slides down across the ramp and onto a conveyor belt 31, by which it is carried away.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG.. 4, the exhaust hood may be constructed in the same general way as the one first described, but the vertical plates that form its inner wall are each formed into an upper section 36 and a lower section 37 that are hinged together on a horizontal axis 38. This arrangement allows the plates to be swung inwardly by a cam 39 further than if they were made in one piece, because the lower sections will hang straight down and thereby allow the upper sections to be swung up further than otherwise.

Also, as shown in FIG. 4, the hood does not have to be rigidly mounted on the car 41, but can be a separate element provided with wheels 42 that travel on rails 43 at opposite sides of the car. These rails are supported independently of the car. The lower part of the hood surrounds the top of the car body. The hood can be detachably connected to the car in any suitable manner so that the two can be moved along the track together. However, when they reach the quenching tower the hood is disconnected from the car and remains behind while the car carries the coke into the quenching tower and then to the unloading station.

FIG. 4 also illustrates a third variation, which is a car floor 45 that can be tilted on a central longitudinal axis 46. In its normal position the floor is either horizontal or slightly sloping, which allows the floor to be covered with coke to a substantially uniform depth to thereby achieve a uniform quenching. After the coke has been quenched the floor is tilted sharply as shown in dotted lines to cause the coke to slide down beneath the outer side wall of the car and onto a ramp that delivers it to a conveyor, such as shown in FIG. 1.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the coke is not quenched in the car 50 and therefore it can be piled higher than usual. Also, the hood 52 does not need a removable roof and yet it can be rigidly mounted on the car. After the car has been loaded in the same manner as first described, it is moved to the quenching tower 53 which is at the outer side of the car. When the side door of the car is opened, the coal slides out of it and down across a perforated ramp 54 in the tower while it is being sprinkled 4 with water from sprays 55 above it. The quenched coke falls onto a conveyor 56. The quenching water is collected beneath the perforated ramp and then is pumped up to a clarifying tank 57, in which the solids are separated and delivered to another conveyor 58.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained the principle of our invention and have illustrated and described what we now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

We claim:

1. The combination with a quench car movable along the discharge side of a row of coke ovens, and a tubular coke guide movable parallel to the car for delivering to it coke that is discharged from the ovens; an apparatus for preventing air pollution while the car is being filled with coke, said apparatus comprising a fume-collecting hood above the car, the side of the hood adjacent said guide being formed from a plurality of plates pivotally suspended from their upper ends on a horizontal axis and normally disposed edge-to-edge, means operative as the car moves across the coke guide for swinging each plate in succession inwardly of the hood to continuously form a side opening therein for receiving coke from said guide, and exhausting means communicating with the inside of the hood for removing fume therefrom.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said hood has a removable roof and means for removing the roof to allow coke in the car to be quenched with water.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said hood has a hinged roof and means for swinging the roof upwardly to expose the coke in the car for quenching with water.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said plateswinging means is mounted on said coke guide.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said plateswinging means is a cam projecting from said coke guide over said car far enough to be engaged by the upper portions of said plates as the car moves across said guide.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which each of said plates is formed from upper and lower sections hinged together on a horizontal axis.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1, including rails extending along opposite sides of said car, means rigidly supporting the rails independently of the car, and wheels running on the rails and supporting said hood.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said exhausting means include means mounted on said car for rendering the fume non-polluting for the atmosphere.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,580,813 5/1971 Hinchlifle 202-230 3,547,782 12/1970 Schon 202-463 3,367,844 2/1968 Cremer 202227 2,795,539 6/ 1957 Hughes 202-228 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,202,246 10/ 1965 Germany.

1,023,450 1/1958 Germany.

NORMAN YUDKOFF, Primary Examiner D. EDWARDS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 202-227 

